obit Page 12 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Anthony Mason Was From The Future
We'll mostly remember Anthony Mason for toughness, the way that we remember the Riley-era Knicks teams on which he made his reputation. Which, fine. He got in fights, on- and off-court; he deployed his elbows and extra-large ass with abandon and occasional malice; he glowered and wheedled and pro...

Hall Of Fame NCAA Basketball Coach Jerry Tarkanian Has Died
According to his son, legendary college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian has passed away today in a Las Vegas hospital. The 84-year-old had been battling a respiratory infection for the past few days, and various health problems for months....

Mr. Cub Remembers
Ernie Banks, scouted by the legendary Buck O'Neill, and best known as Mr. Cub, died yesterday. We salute him with this column that John Schulian wrote for the Chicago Daily News on Aug. 5, 1977, under the headline "Mr. Cub Remembers."...

The Day John Lennon Was Murdered
Via Cathal Kelly's Twitter feed, dig Jimmy Breslin's column about John Lennon's death:...

The Day the Fairytale Died
The business of writing obituaries may seem, at first glance, a morbid affair. Just think of the title of Gay Talese's 1966 Esquire profile of the New York Timesobituary writer Alden Whitman: "Mr. Bad News." But obituary writing is far from depressing and some of the best non-fiction writing of the ...

The "Average Professional Baseball Player" Who Changed Sportswriting
Jim Brosnan, the pitcher whose book about his 1959 season offered an uncommonly candid look at life within baseball, died last month at the age of 84. In 2007, Brosnan was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals. Writer John Schulian gave the following speech on Brosnan's beha...

Superstar Alfredo Di Stéfano, Real Madrid's "Blond Arrow," Has Died
You've heard of Pele and Maradona, most certainly. Today, though, I sing of Alfredo di Stéfano. Di Stéfano, who died today at 88 from a heart attack, was arguably the greatest player never to have played in a World Cup....

R.I.P. Paul Mazursky
Rest in Peace, Paul Mazursky. He made some memorable movies, particularly Harry & Tonto. I've always had a soft spot for Moscow on the Hudson. This scene is nice to revisit as July 4th approaches. ...

How Tony Gwynn Cracked Baseball's Code And Became A Legend
If you're not old enough to remember, you may not believe it, but there was a time when Tony Gwynn was an incredible athlete, not just in the sense that he had the freakish hand-eye coordination of an eight-time National League batting champion, but in the sense that he could run and jump with anyon...

The Swing Machine
From SI's Tony Gwynn tribute issue here's Richard Hoffer's 1995 profile, "The Swing Machine":...

Harold Ramis: A Very Funny Fellow
From Tad Friend's 2004 New Yorker profile of Harold Ramis:...

Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Tom Junod remembers Phillip Seymour Hoffman:...

Pete Seeger Talks Baseball
I found this post over at Hardball Talk—the late Pete Seeger talking baseball. ...

Longform Salutes Peter Kaplan
The writer and editor Peter Kaplan died a few days ago....

Royko On Jackie
Mike Royko's column written on the day that Jackie Robinson died:...


